Getting to Graduation:
o
Understanding Proficiency
Adv
Maine is one of the first states in the country to adopt a proficiency-based requirement for graduation. While the requirement is centered around high school students, the entire K-8 system will need to adjust to the cac requirements as well in order for students to avoid a huge y academic shift when transitioning into high school. The paradigm shift for all educators already has, according to the Department of Education, around two dozen districts asking for waiver extensions to meet the deadline requirements. At press time, there was still a month left to apply for the waiver. For those districts working through the regulations educators are trying to figure out the answer to what, on the surface, seems like a simple question: what does proficient mean? In implementing a new proficiency-based education system, districts will determine locally how to measure proficiency in each of the eight content areas of the Maine Learning Results. In addition, each district may include additional graduation requirements, like a capstone project or an application to a post-secondary school. With the definition of what is proficient potentially different in each district it is likely that what is considered “passable” in one school could be deemed “failing” in another. The standards, “represent a sea change in the way education is provided for Maine children,” according to a report conducted by the Maine Policy Research Institute (MEPRI). The 62-page report, requested by the Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs, studied nine schools in the state and found moving to a proficiency-based system, “is proving very complex and difficult within existing structures of traditional public school teacher certifications, student achievement reporting, school grade configurations, daily scheduling, existing learning management technology, limited external or community supplemental resources, and current levels of personnel capacity.” One of the main challenges for educators is finding the time to collaborate and create systems that will work for students. “We have been working on summative students Can still Receive A Diploma If: assessments and a scoring guide for those assessments for about 18 months,” said • Student has a defined disability and Wayne Prescott (RSU 19 EA) a high school teacher at Nokomis in Newport. “The meets IEP goals freshmen teachers were able to pilot the work we had done, and when it came to the scoring guide, we realized that there were adjustments that needed to be made so • Student meets the standards in that we were scoring what we wanted the students to know and be able to do. When a waiver request approved by the creating it from “thin air” it’s very hard to hit the bull’s-eye on the first shot.” Nokomis’ experience is one echoed in the MEPRI report which is the most incommissioner of education depth look into how schools are dealing with proficiency-based learning thus far. A • Student completes freshman year at an key recommendation in the MEPRI report is offering more professional development accredited school of higher education time for educators to collaborate and align the standards to curricula and assessments in order to among other things: • Student’s learning is interrupted • Determine common benchmarks for profi ciency at each learning level due to things like homelessness or • Develop reporting and grading systems hospitalization, and a proficiency plan is • Research and analyze best practices in instruction through the lens of proficiency-based learning. approved by commissioner of education While more professional development is recommended, the question remains Detailed list of standards at www.maineea.org/proficiency unanswered, if all educators will receive the level of professional development that is needed to meet the needs of students prior to implementation. “Some teachers are Source: DOE in districts where there are consultants available throughout and participate during in-service. Teachers are paid for additional work after hours or during summer. Other districts do not have the help and teachers are doing the work in isolation on their own time,” said Hermon High School teacher Jesse Hargrove (Hermon TA) and RSU 3 school board member. Only School Administrative Units (SAUs) are subject to the law requiring proficiency-based diplomas. By definition an SAU does not include an independent school or a 60-40 school, like Thornton Academy. SAUs do include public charter schools, at least ones authorized by the Charter Commission. However, in this instance charter schools are excluded from the need to follow the proficiency-based diplomas (PBD) requirement. New Hampshire is the only other state that requires students to receive PBDs; dozens of other states offer them as options but do not require them for all students.
Big salary Win for Community College Members Members in the Community College Faculty Association achieved a big arbitration victory that will help ensure that senior faculty is not paid less than new hires. The win stems from a case at Northern Maine Community College where management denied the salary appeals of two veteran employees who were being paid less than a brand new instructor. The specific issue dealt with the contract language that required employees seeking pay equity to be ‘similarly qualified’ and in a ‘comparable discipline’ with the new hire in order to win a salary appeal. Management denied the salary appeal based on arbitrary and changing rationale. Rather than honor the intent of the contract, NMCC administration used specious arguments in order to justify paying senior faculty two steps less than a new hire to the college. The arbitrator in the case sided with the Association’s argument and ruled ‘comparable discipline’ had a broad definition that did not hinge on the subject matter being similar, but only that the fields of instruction be comparable for “pay equity purposes.” This decision has effectively restored the pay equity provisions of the contract for all Community College faculty members by providing guidelines for salary appeals moving forward. This win will allow existing members the ability to file salary appeals and potentially receive as many step increases as necessary until he/she is brought to the step equal to a newly hired instructor who has similar qualifications within a comparable discipline. The association will now look at the step level and hire dates of all faculty members across the Community College System to determine who may have a strong salary appeal under this ruling. The arbitration is binding and management must comply. October 2014 • www.maineea.org
15
